The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico stretches east of Delta National Wildlife Refuge in this satellite image made on Sunday, April 25. Plotted on the photo are several Important Bird Areas that lie in the oil's path. (Photo courtesy NASA Earth Observatory)
The news from the Gulf of Mexico could hardly get worse. The oil being spilled into the sea in the aftermath of last week's platform explosion -- as much as 210,000 gallons a day, we now know -- is expected to reach the Gulf coast tomorrow (Friday, April 30).
Update (April 29, 9:10 p.m.): Associated Press is reporting that the oil slick started washing ashore along the Gulf Coast tonight (Thursday), a day earlier than initially forecast. --C.H.
The timing of the spill, National Audubon reported Wednesday, could not be worse for birds, which are now nesting and therefore especially vulnerable in many of the places where the oil could come ashore. Said an Audubon bird conservation director: "We have to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, including a true catastrophe for birds."
Here's a list of the Important Bird Areas threatened by the oil spill:
In Mississippi:
Gulf Coast Least Tern Colony
The manmade white-sand beach in Biloxi, in Harrison County, is perhaps the world's largest Least Tern colony. As many as 6,000 pairs have nested here in the past. Approximately 2,000 pairs bred in 2000.
[Photo: Juvenile Least Tern by Teddy Llovet / CC BY-NC 2.0 ]
Gulf Islands National Seashore
12 sections in Florida and Mississippi, from Ft. Walton, Florida, to Gulfport, Mississippi, host thousands of birds in migration, particularly in the spring, and provide important wintering habitat for shorebirds and passerines, including Sharp-tailed Sparrow and Seaside Sparrow. Principal islands in Florida: Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Ft. Pickens, Naval Live Oaks, Ft. Barrancas and Advanced Redoubt, and Perdido Key. Islands in Mississippi: Davis Bayou, Horn Island (a designated wilderness, accessible by boat only), Petit Bois Island, and East and West Ship Island.
Lower Pascagoula River
The mouth of the Pascagoula River watershed, the only large unimpeded river system in the lower 48 states, harbors several Important Bird Areas, covering hardwood forests, oxbow lakes, sandbars, and coastal marshes. Ward Bayou Wildlife Management Area and other nearby state-owned properties support nesting Swallow-tailed Kites. Also an important region for Yellow and Black Rails, Reddish Egret, Snowy and Piping Plovers, Seaside and Nelson's Sparrows, and migrating Neotropical songbirds.
In Louisiana:
Delta NWR
Freshwater and brackish marshes at the mouth of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish provide nesting habitat for large numbers of wading birds, as well as stopover and wintering grounds for Dunlin, Western Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitchers, and other shorebirds, huge numbers of migrating songbirds, and tens of thousands of waterfowl.
Breton NWR (including Chandeleur Islands)
Breton, located in St. Bernard and Plaquemine Parish, includes Breton Island and all of the Chandeleur Islands. It is the second oldest refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Twenty-three species of seabird and shorebird use it frequently, and 13 species nest here. The most abundant nesters are Brown Pelicans, Laughing Gulls, and Royal, Caspian, and Sandwich Terns. Together, they form the largest tern colony in North America -- as many as 60,000 birds at one time but now totaling 15,000-20,000.
Coastal Louisiana Islands
Sandbars, barrier islands, and marshes along the entire Louisiana coast shelter sizable portions of the U.S. populations of Sandwich Terns (77%), Black Skimmer (44%), and Forster's Tern (52%), as well as large breeding colonies of Brown Pelicans. Wading birds, too, are abundant, as are wintering waterfowl. Examples:
- Grand Gosier Islands: 21,000 breeding Sandwich Terns, 11,000 Royal Terns
- Stake Islands: 19,500 breeding Sandwich Terns, 11,000 Royal Terns
- Baptiste Collette Bird Islands (dredge-material wetland and bird-island creation site): 1,500 Brown Pelicans, 1,100 Caspian Terns, 250 Gull-billed Terns, 800 Black Skimmers
[Photo: American Oystercatcher by Peter Massas]
In Alabama:
Dauphin Island
A famed migrant trap located at the mouth of Mobile Bay, only seven miles from the mainland. The first place northbound migrants land after crossing gulf. Read about birdwatching on Dauphin Island.
Bon Secour NWR and Ft. Morgan Historical Park
The 7,000-acre Bon Secour refuge on Alabama's Ft. Morgan Peninsula is a critical stopover for migrating songbirds and monarch butterflies. Endangered loggerhead sea turtles nest on the beaches, and the threatened Piping Plover winters here. Ft. Morgan Historical Park, at the extreme western end, is the location of the Fort Morgan Bird Banding Station of the Hummer Bird Study Group.
In Florida:
Dog Island
A Nature Conservancy preserve located three miles off the coast of the Panhandle. It's an important wintering area for Piping Plover, hosting up to 90 birds. And Snowy and Wilson's Plovers, American Oystercatcher, and Least Tern breed on the island.
St. Marks NWR and Ochlockonee River State Park
Adjacent Important Bird Areas along the coast south of Tallahassee. The region is a major stopover and wintering area for waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, rails, hawks, and passerines. And St. Marks is a wintering area for endangered Whooping Cranes. (Read David Sibley's article about birding St. Marks.)
Less than five years ago, Hurricane Katrina pounded many of the same areas. Read our December 2005 article on Important Bird Areas affected by Katrina. -- Matt Mendenhall and Chuck Hagner
Read official updates on the spill and see photos at deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.
Read what you can do to help.
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